Phil Jagielka and Chris Smalling are England's best chance of avoiding a Euro 2016 full of goals and errors

England's saving grace is that there are few teams heading to France this summer with a solid defence

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Roy Hodgson said he was “becoming a dinosaur” by taking the view that the handball awarded against England’s Danny Rose in the 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands was unfair. “To give a handball, it’s got to be absolutely deliberate,” Hodgson said, concluding also that the failure to spot a foul against Phil Jagielka in the lead-up to the Dutch second was “exceptionally harsh.”

Well, when it comes to football ideas lost in the Mesozoic era when the big beasts roamed, how about the unfashionable notion that the team which defends best will win it? The very good news for England is that among the favourites to win the tournament, only one – Spain – can lay claim to a good defensive record in the past three games, having conceded only three goals in that sequence, though their indifferent calendar year puts them below France and Germany in the odds tables, at 5/1, with England fourth at 9/1.

England’s defensive record in the same number of games has been considerably superior to either France or Germany – three shipped against six shipped by Didier Deschamps and Joachin Loew’s sides, with Italy all at sea defensively (seven conceded.) With so many coaches looking more than ever for ball-playing midfield qualities in all of their defensive quartet, this summer could deliver a tournament full of goals and defensive errors in which the team with the least bad back four win. Despite last night’s reality check, England could be that team.

The England manager can hardly create technically superior defenders when he has the players at his disposal with only three games before France and only one – Portugal in early June – truly competitive. But considering the failings in this department both against the Germans in Berlin on Saturday and at Wembley last night, he can at least settle on his chosen quartet, stick with them now, and give them time to create a mutual understanding.

The last lap of Premier League football may just tell him more about who should form the central defensive pairing but it probably won’t. The partnership must comprise Chris Smalling (the outstanding candidate, though by no means technical imperious) and, though left-sided central defence is not his natural place, Phil Jagielka (the only other candidate who arrives at the summer on the back of half decent club form.) John Stones and Gary Cahill do not have that confidence, and though Stones should not be castigated for dawdling on the ball in the build up to the Dutch second last night, it was a piece of decision-making which revealed the danger of not knowing when to clear it.

Phil Jagielka (GETTY IMAGES)

The Independent’s Danny Higginbotham reflected on Twitter that his suitably named Adidas Stand Finders would have cleared that ball into the stand if necessary and that Stones needs to understand when to lumping the ball should enter the equation. Lumping can be good. It is the Roberto Martinez way to discourage it.

Danny Rose, excellent offensively and defensively in Germany and Kyle Walker, a cool contributor to England’s equaliser at Wembley, should make up the rest of quartet. The Dutch manager Danny Blind, who has beaten Wales and England in the last four months, says Hodgson’s side is “more complete” than Chris Coleman’s, arguing “it is a better team and more options.” But the talk of options and fluidity and flexibility obscures the need for stability and consistency and other boring commodities at the back. The best English club sides in history have possessed fixed defenders with complementary skills whose understanding is intuitive. For England, the same old fashioned notion applies now as much as ever.